


Becoming Somebody

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-07
Packaged: 2017-12-18 01:49:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Inspired by John Green’s Paper Towns* You were nobody until Zayn Malik abducted you. With a polaroid snapshot of whatever crazy adventure he took you on in the middle of the night, you were basically golden. The only problem was getting picked… Ziall. High School AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

You were nobody until you were abducted by Zayn Malik.

It hadn't always been that way, of course. People used to be _somebodies_ because they were pretty or good at sports. For example, back in primary school, Eleanor Calder had been popular because she had been the skinniest, tallest eight-year-old in what seemed like all of London at the time. However, as soon as Zayn had gotten a car, her legacy had practically been done with until he had eventually stolen her away from her house, too.

It sounded crazy, how girls and guys alike would wait up in their beds every night hoping for a guy they'd never met to knock on their door and drag them off to God knows where to do God knows what, but it would have been impossible not to after hearing the _stories_.

The first person Zayn ever kidnapped for the night was Louis Tomlinson. Apparently, Louis had been playing video games like usual, when he'd heard a knock on his door. He'd opened it up to find Zayn with a wicked looking smiled on his face and an excited look in his eye. When retelling the story, Louis would always say "I _knew -_ just by looking at him- that something great was going to happen. So when he asked me to go for drive with him, I _had_ to say yes."

Rumor has it, that when Zayn had finally stopped the car, Louis had discovered themselves parked a few blocks away from Big Ben, and by the end of the night, he'd somehow found himself playing an intense game of hide and seek with a bunch of guy's he'd never met or had seen again way up in the very top of the giant clock tower. Louis never said how -because apparently Zayn had him sworn to secrecy- but he did have a polaroid from the other boy's camera to prove his story true. If it had been anyone other than Louis, no one would have believed the story and nobody would have thought that they could have been chosen. Except it _was_ Louis.

Louis: a guy who'd never been seen talking to Zayn Malik before in his life, but now all of a sudden they were best friends. Louis: a guy who, despite being a little quirky, had managed to be one of the most popular guys in school. Louis: a guy who'd be crazy enough to get in a car with a complete stranger just because of a promising look on their face.

He had been a good choice. And with their trip to the top of Big Ben, Zayn and Louis had become the tippy top of the school's social pyramid in less than a day.

Whispers spread through the school like wild fire. Who was Zayn Malik and how had he gotten up into the clock tower? Was the thing with Louis a one-time deal? Why had he picked him in the first place? He wasn't even that _cool_. Of course, once the student body realized that there were no answers to be found outside of quiet, mysterious Zayn's head, they dropped the subject. Zouis's adventure was nearly forgotten about… But then Zayn made his next move.

Despite the pair being total band geeks, it wasn't uncommon knowledge that Liam Payne and Danielle Peazer were dating, so it wasn't too big of a shock that it was them chosen both in one night. However, it was a bit surprising that Zayn took them away at different times. He'd asked Liam to go off with him at around ten that evening and gotten him back from a late night gallery walk of a few most definitely closed museums at around one in the morning. Danielle claimed that Zayn picked her up at two for a late night picnic in the deep-sea fish exhibit at the aquarium. Apparently, Zayn had a tea party all set up on the carpet when they got there, tea and scones and biscuits and _everything_.

Both trips were so awesome, neither Liam nor Danielle was mad that the other had gone out without them, and with the evidence of their evenings in the form of two polaroids just like Louis's, the school had started talking again. All of a sudden, the old popular kids were dropped like stones in favor of Zayn, Louis, Liam and Danielle. Their status continued to plummet as more and more teens were whisked way on crazy, late-night adventures.

Lots of students got their chance, but the epicness of Zayn's adventures faltered here and there. Sometimes Zayn wouldn't do anything that crazy. He'd just whisk you out of bed, drag you to the park, and take a picture as proof of you working on some crazy, intense graffiti project together. Sometimes, he'd take you to a soup kitchen or an animal shelter to work the night shift without warning you to put on a pair of ratty clothes. He'd still remember to snap your picture, of course. Sometimes you'd end up getting way drunk in an alley way, and your picture would turn out blurry and a bit out of focus.

However, out of all those students Zayn had abducted, only three had managed to earn themselves a seat at his lunch table with Louis, Liam, and Danielle. One was a boy named Harry Styles. Zayn had forced him into drag and they'd filled in for strippers at a very smoke-filled gentleman's club in the dodgy part of town. The other two were girls. One was Eleanor Calder, who'd earned the chance to be a bridesmaid at a wedding belonging to a bride and groom Zayn nor she had ever met in their entire lives. The other was Perrie Edwards, who'd gotten to go shopping in the mall while all of the stores were closed. She'd gotten her polaroid taken next to some money she was leaving on top of a cashier counter.

No one understood why Zayn chose who he did. Harry was remarkably behind in his studies and spent most of his free time being tutored so he didn't have a clique previously. Eleanor was a model, so that made a little sense. Perrie hung out with the theater kids, but she connected in with them like a puzzle piece. No one knew why Zayn thought they'd fit together; they just knew they wanted to fit, too.

Especially the little blonde boy with an Irish accent in a sea of Brits.


	2. Chapter 2

Niall Horan walked out of Biology with slumped shoulders. He was really getting tired of having to stay after class to talk with teachers… It's not like he was stupid, it's just that all of the school's coursework was so _different_ than what he had been studying back home in Ireland. He was tired of a lot of other things, too: most of all being _lonely_. When his mother had told him they'd be moving, she'd smiled and said, "You'll make friends!"

She'd been _lying_.

Niall had definitely not made friends. It seemed like every time he opened his mouth to speak more than just a _yes_ or _no_ that didn't let his accent show, people were repulsed by him. He was just Irish… Why did that have to be such a bad thing? Niall debated this as he walked to Chemistry. The hallways were deserted, as he had stayed very late indeed to talk to his biology teacher. He might need more help than he was willing to admit…

Niall was unsure of whether to be surprised or not when a hand grabbed his shirt collar behind. "Good morning, Paul," he greeted his assailant as the older boy whipped him around and slammed him into a set of lockers.

"What did you say to me, Paddy?" he spat in his face, but Niall just rolled his eyes. He'd gotten numb to Paul's particular brand of bullying within two weeks of school. He didn't really do anything other than knock him into lockers which, while the back of his skull and his shoulders protested, wasn't that big of a deal. He was just a big, racist bully who scared all the other kids in school into being big and racist, too.

"I said "good morning", and my name's Niall, not _'Paddy'_ ," he replied coolly, and Paul smashed him into the lockers again.

"Yeah, that's what I thought you said," the bigger boy replied, ignoring his correction and kicking his feet out from under him and forcing him to the ground before walking away. Niall bit his lip despite the scathing retorts burning to be spoken; he didn't have a death wish. Instead, he stayed on the ground and waited until Paul was around the corner before standing himself up. Brushing off his sleeves, he looked around anxiously to see if anyone had caught that embarrassing display. And-

 _Shit_.

Niall would confess that there was almost no one in the entire school whom he cared about seeing him get thrown about like that. There was only one person he wanted to impress at all, and unfortunately, that one person was standing at their locker five feet down the hallway from him. Zayn.

Zayn Malik was the most pined after guy in school, and unfortunately he was very, _very_ taken by a blonde chick named Perrie who really didn't deserve him. That much Niall knew, despite no one ever talking to him. He also knew that Zayn was famous for taking people out on crazy adventures in the middle of the night and that you didn't get to be _somebody_ until he invited you on one, and while Niall really _needed_ to be somebody because he was so _sick_ of being alone, that wasn't what had peaked his interest in Zayn Malik. No…

It was absolutely _everything else._

Niall was in love with his hair and his eyes. He adored his smile, and his face, and the way his arms looked when he threw on his backpack, and how his body moved when he walked, and how he waved at _everybody_ , and he'd only heard him speak once, but he was head over heels about his _voice_ … Niall liked everything about Zayn. Even the way he chewed and how he'd always have one sock rolled down lower than the other cause he itched only his right ankle when with his toes when he was bored… Okay, Niall wasn't a stalker; he just didn't have anyone to talk to during lunch.

And of _course_ he'd just seen Niall get beat up. And of _course_ he hadn't stepped in and saved the day like the hero Niall always dreamed he'd be. And of _course_ he wouldn't even look at him now and just kept shoving things into his backpack… And that's when Niall noticed the tears on his face.

He shifted from foot to foot, debating on whether or not to walk over and see if he could help before Niall realized that he _loved_ Zayn and that this was actually his chance to maybe _do_ something about it, so he should just go over. "Zayn, are you okay?" he asked, and mentally cursed himself when he practically _chirped_ the question. Remind him, why did he have to be so embarrassing? Zayn finally pulled his gaze way from the back of his locker and quirked an eyebrow.

"I could ask the same about you," he said quietly, and Niall brought his hand to his face only to realize that a few tears had leaked down his own cheeks. Maybe this whole Paul thing actually got to him more than he wanted to admit sometimes… He bit his lip, trying to think of an answer, but Zayn continued talking before he had to. "It's fine. I'm just going home for the day is all." He slammed his locker closed, and Niall flinched. "I've got preparations to make," was all he said before leaving, and Niall decided that the whole conversation probably couldn't have gone any worse.

* * *

The pile of homework on Niall's desk seemed like shit even to him. Normally, he'd try to put a little bit more effort into it, but Niall was upset, and his day had been _terrible_ , and all he really wanted to do was somehow get to sleep. Except, that wasn't going to happen because he still had, like, six math equations to somehow finish up, and he'd been stuck on the first one for fifteen minutes already. He groaned and let his head fall to his desk, lifting it up curiously when he heard a tapping sound at his window.

Niall ignored it for a second before the sound grew louder. His bedroom window in Mullingar had a tree outside of it… This one didn't…

He hopped up from his desk chair, peeling back the curtains of his bedroom window and jumping back in surprise when there was an actual living _person_ on the other side of the glass all dressed in black. Niall bit back a yelp when he realized that, of course _,_ that person was _Zayn Malik_. He quickly unlocked the window and let the boy in off the ledge outside his window. "Thanks, mate!" Zayn exclaimed, clambering in with a big smile on his war painted face. Niall didn't know what to say.

"I thought you knocked on doors," he uttered stupidly, and Zayn rolled his eyes.

"Normally, yes, but this is a special occasion." Screw not knowing what to say; Niall didn't even know what to _do_. Zayn Malik was in his bedroom - _his bedroom_ -wearing _adventure clothes._ And ironically, the thing that threw him off most was that Zayn had chosen the _window_. He'd spent a lot of time dreaming that this day would come, and never once had he pictured anything other than Zayn knocking on his door. The taller boy let him flounder for a minute before cluing him in a little more. "Look, you're not going to want to let anybody know you were out tonight, so… we're leaving and entering via window. It's not hard, I promise. Just… kiss your parents goodnight or whatever, and let's get going, shall we?" Niall gaped.

"I've got… I've got maths," he stammered. _Holy shit, ZaynMalikhaspickedmetobesome body_. His crush rolled his eyes and snagged the pencil Niall still had in his hand, leaning over the desk to figure out the six seemingly impossible questions he had left in a minute flat.

"There. I even corrected the first one you had done. The answer was three, not 42x," he told him, and Niall flushed. "Now seriously, we've got thirteen things to do tonight, and I want the last one to be done at dawn _exactly_." Niall gulped, pushing away all the finallys and the maybes to call out to his mom.

"I've got my homework done, Mum! Going to bed!" Zayn clicked off the lights and had forced him through the window before he'd ever gotten the chance to hear his mother's response.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite feeling like he was going to _die_ the entire climb down, Niall made it from his window to the street without injury. He climbed into Zayn's car after the other boy opened the passenger side's door for him like a _freaking gentleman_ , and tried not to blush when he pulled out a bouquet of Gerber daisies. This was not his life… He cleared his throat.

"Where are we off to?" he asked, taking the flowers out of Zayn's hands as the boy focused on all of London's twisted and tangled streets.

"Harry's house," he replied, and Niall felt himself deflate a little bit.

"Are you kidnapping him tonight, too?" he asked, disappointment sweeping over him. This was his chance to have an adventure. With Zayn Malik. _Zayn Malik_. And while Harry Styles seemed like a swell guy, he would most definitely get in the way of all the fantasies Niall's ever had about this day. Zayn, thank goodness, shook his head.

"No, we're just dropping those off," he said, gesturing to the flowers in Niall's hands, and Niall sighed, half in relief and half in disappointment. So the flowers weren't for him… He eyed the thick stalks and the bright petals a bit longingly, and Zayn caught him. The mysterious boy smirked: a common expression for him, apparently. "They _are_ the happiest flower, aren't they?" Zayn mused, and Niall nodded. "It's a shame to give them up… Alright, now get out of the car and ring the doorbell," he ordered as they pulled up to a nice, white flat. Niall frowned.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked, popping open the car door, and Zayn shook his head violently.

"God, no. Harry'd probably punch me, and I'd deserve it. Just hand him the flowers with a super heartfelt apology. There's a note inside, okay?" Zayn looked at him pleadingly, and Niall didn't quite know what to do on the other end of _that_ particular expression, so he just complied, pulling himself out of the car and brushing himself off. The blonde hiked up the front steps of the building and knocked on the door. Niall was caught off guard when a huge, middle-aged man answered the door instead of the skinny, young Harry Styles.

"Harry? Harry! Get your lazy ass down here, there's some kid at the door!" There was some rustling from upstairs, and Harry came bounding into view while the man –presumably his father- walked away from the door. He slapped Harry on the head -a little too hard for Niall's liking- as he passed, and the curly haired boy looked sheepish as he came to the door.

"You're Niall Horan, yeah?" Harry asked, his voice low and slow, and Niall remembered a couple kids talking about how Harry Styles wasn't bright enough to be hanging out with Zayn… Harry eyed the flowers in his hand. "If you're about to ask me out on a date, I'm not interested." Niall thought that Harry was brighter than he seemed. He coughed uncomfortably.

"Actually, um, no… These are from Zayn. He says he's really sorry for whatever happened," he told him as promised, and the curly haired boy's eyes flashed with anger.

"Why didn't he come here and tell me himself?" he spat, and Niall flinched when Harry ripped the flowers out of his hand. He took a shaky breath because Harry had actual _muscle_ and he was pretty sure that he could take him without even trying.

"He said you'd punch him in the face," he said awkwardly, and Harry started laughing.

"Yeah, I probably would…" he said after he'd controlled himself. "Tell him, thanks, yeah?" And Niall nodded.

"Yeah. Read the note, okay?" he asked, and Harry nodded before yelling emerged from the back of the house: a man and a woman arguing, and fear washed over the other boy's face. Niall shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously. "Are you going to be okay here, tonight?" he asked, because it would be cruel of him to ignore the signs of a dysfunctional family when they were thrown in front of his face like this, and Harry nodded confidently.

"Yeah, I've been okay for the last seven years since she married the bitch, so I think I'll be fine." Niall didn't ask. He just nodded and jumped off the front step, rushing back to the car where Zayn sat waiting. The Bradford boy offered him a big smile.

"One down, twelve to go!" Zayn exclaimed pulling the car into drive, and Niall frowned.

"What did you do?" he asked, and Zayn gave him a quizzical look before turning his back to the road, so Niall filled in his question. "You know… What'd you do that had Harry so mad?" Something in Zayn's face twitched at the question.

"I thought he was keeping secrets from me with Louis, Liam, and Perrie and stuff, so I got really mad at him," Zayn explained, and Niall nodded. If he had friends, he'd probably be mad if he thought they were being exclusive. "But it turns out he _hadn't_ been, and I'd been really awful for no reason." Zayn pulled over at the corner and turned to face Niall, suddenly looking extremely serious. "Like, I mean, I told him he was retarded kid who probably wouldn't graduate and whose father didn't love him." Niall bit his lip.

"Well… I mean… That's not _so_ bad," he tried to reassure him, but Zayn just threw his skull back against the headrest and groaned.

"Except that it _is_ because it was _true_. And you should never insult people by saying true things about them because then you can never fully take it back." Niall didn't know what to say, but luckily Zayn decided to continue. "And the worst part of it is that the whole thing was stupid in the first place. Like, even if he _was_ keeping secrets from me, it's not like he was Perrie –who cheated on me, by the fucking way- or Liam –my shitty best friend who she cheated on me _with_ \- so I really shouldn't have been mad at him of all people when I found out this morning. It's just he was who I saw first, and I wanted to be angry at someone, you know?"

"Yeah, that totally makes sense." _Or, it would, if I had friends._ Niall watched Zayn carefully as he wrenched the car back onto the road. So this is why he had been crying earlier… He should probably feel really bad for Zayn, but mostly he was just elated that now he might maybe actually have a chance… Zayn sputtered and looked quickly back and forth from Niall to the road.

"Louis, for the record, _did_ know all along, apparently, which is why I thought Harry had. We're still going to visit him later, though, cause he's an arsehole," Zayn spat, and Niall –once again- didn't ask questions. He figured he'd find out soon enough anyway. Suddenly, Zayn sat up straight, leaning over the wheel, muttering to himself more than Niall… "Okay… should be around here somewhere… Ah! Found it." He refocused on Niall, parking the car. "Here, throw these on over what you're wearing," he said, shoving Niall a bag containing black sweatpants and a black hoodie. Niall did as told and followed Zayn when the other boy climbed out of the car.

"There. We match," Niall said just to say _something_ and Zayn shushed him, slipping something into this hand that he had pulled from the back seat and gesturing to a car on parked on the street. The other boy was unfolding a wire hanger and walking across the road to the beaten down car, and Niall couldn't help but feel alarmed when the other boy shoved the wire through the window and into the door, unlocking it. Zayn ushered him over and took the giant metal thing he'd given him out of his hands and clicked it onto the steering wheel. He ushered Niall back into his own car on the other side of the street. "What did you-"

"Steering wheel lock," Zayn answered before Niall could even finish his question. "Now Liam can't drive his car. Two down eleven to go; do me a favor?" Niall, feeling completely overwhelmed, just nodded his head. "Call this number, and read off this post-it," he instructed, handing him a cellphone and a slip of paper. "I'll be in those bushes… Come join me when you're done if you want," he offered and left the car. Niall read the post-it and paled.

He wasn't sure he liked this adventure anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

Niall numbly dialed the number on the note, swallowing audibly when a gruff voice answered his call. "Hello? Who is this?" Niall briefly frowned upon the man's phone manners, and coughed faintly, clutching the post-it tightly. This seemed wrong… This seemed really wrong…

"I'm sorry," he apologized for more than a couple things, "But is this Mr. Edwards?" he asked, and there was a positive grumble on the other side of the line. Niall winced and threw a glance at the bushes Zayn had just crept into. "Okay, well… Yourdaughter'spregnantandshe'shavingsexwiththefath erinherroom _rightnow_. Bye!" Niall quickly read off in one breath, flipping the phone closed and throwing it to the other side of the car like it was hot in his hand.

He was practically chewing his bottom lip off, he was so nervous. That hadn't been harmless like putting a steering wheel lock on a car. That had been _mean_. Niall didn't think he was comfortable with being abducted anymore, and apparently he didn't know Zayn as well as he thought he had despite watching him for the entirety of his school day.

Okay, shut up! He was just lonely!

Needless to say, Niall's head was very muddled with thoughts as he crouched between the leaves of a very sad-looking city bush. Zayn had something big and black in his hands, but Niall couldn't tell what it was in the dark. Niall felt torn. On the one hand, the other boy seemed positively giddy, and Niall would do anything to see Zayn happy. On the other side of things, Niall could hear shouting from inside and that didn't sit well with him. A sharp banging noise was heard from a window above them and Niall could barely make out a smirk on Zayn's lips in the night.

The other boy lifted up the black box to his face, and light from a streetlamp caught it, allowing it to take the familiar shape of a polaroid camera. Niall looked up to where it was pointing too, and saw a figure climbing down the side of the house, much like Zayn and he had done earlier. "This is how I learned," Zayn whispered under his breath, and Niall hummed quietly in response, too scared to speak. What the hell was going on?

Zayn snapped a picture, and the customary flash of the camera lit up the second floor of the building, and Niall's eyes widened. Clinging tight to the molding on the house was a very nervous, very _naked_ Liam Payne. Niall didn't know how to react. Zayn, meanwhile, giggled –actually giggled- as the photo rolled out of the Polaroid, holding it up between two fingers as the colors bled through the black for Niall to see. Zayn had managed a pretty revealing photo…

"Three down," he huffed.

* * *

"Ha! I knew we'd get him, but I didn't think it'd be this _good!"_ Zayn exclaimed, still laughing after they had crept back to the car. "I mean… He was holding on _backwards_. We got full frontal! Ah, and the best part is that he's probably walking home naked right now. " Niall bit his lip, apparently determined to gnaw it off and swallow it by the end of the night.

"How'd you know where to hide?" he asked, trying to sound enthusiastic, but it was pretty difficult considering how guilty he felt. Zayn seemed to sense his unease and tilted his head in his direction, arching an eyebrow.

"That's how Perrie _always_ had me sneak out…" he trailed off, laughter leaving his voice. Niall squirmed under his gaze as the car twisted through the streets. "What's wrong?" he questioned, and Niall half wanted to cry because _of course_ Zayn could read him like that… God, of _course_. Zayn had to meet up to all of his expectations but one… "Seriously, Niall," the older boy continued when he hadn't spoken. "What's going on with you?"

"Zayn… that was _mean_. What you did to Perrie and even Liam… that had been _mean_." Niall hadn't wanted to say anything, but with Zayn asking, he'd felt like he had no choice. Curse his stalker-love… Meanwhile, the taller boy seemed _pissed_.

"No, you know what's mean? It's _mean_ to cheat on your boyfriend. It's _mean_ to cheat on you _girlfriend_. It's mean to _ignore_ someone even when they sit right next to you at lunch everyday, and they can see you don't like them, but they stick around anyway because it's better to be ignored by five people than to try and be ignored _again_. It's mean to not know that same person's last _name_ and-"

"Malik," Niall interrupted, and Zayn cut himself off mid-rant. His eyes twinkled with something unplaceable.

"What?" he asked, looking a bit surprised, and Niall blushed.

"Malik… You're last name is Malik…" he trailed off awkwardly, and Zayn furrowed his brow, confusion etching across his face. Something about the look sent a wave of nausea rolling through his stomach. Shit… How did Zayn do this to him?

"Right… Malik…" Zayn repeated quietly, staring at the road ahead of him for a minute before shaking himself out of his stupor. He turned his attention back and forth from out the windshield to Niall again. "And how did you know that?" he asked, and Niall shrugged, his stomach now twisting for a completely different reason.

"I don't know… I thought everyone did," he replied, and Zayn pressed his lips together, eyes twinkling again, but the look seemed different this time. Niall didn't know what this one was either, but it definitely wasn't the same as the first. Zayn didn't look back at him for awhile.

"Right. Okay. Yeah… But anyway, it's still mean. And it's mean to treat someone like they're not there, and it's mean to not care about them no matter what they do for you," he finished, and Niall didn't say anything. It seemed like Perrie sucked more than he'd originally thought, and maybe Liam and Zayn's other friends, too… Although, Harry seemed nice enough…

"Okay. You're right. That _is_ mean. Maybe a little revenge isn't so bad…"

Zayn smirked. "I like to call it justice," he said with a little laugh, like he'd just admitted he'd always wanted to be a pirate growing up or something equally childish. And maybe being your own superhero kind of was… But Niall had been picked on and teased ever since he'd moved to this godforsaken city, and he was a little desperate for a hero at this point. "Which reminds me. Number four had been getting Perrie in trouble, so thank you very much, and number five is your choice. So pick." Niall was lost.

"My choice?"

"Yeah, your choice. Whom do you want _justice_ to come to?" he asked goofily, nudging him a bit while keeping his attention on the street in front of him. Niall didn't even have to think about it.

"Paul," he answered, quickly, and Zayn smiled, pulling into a parking space outside a big looking home.

"I thought you'd say that," he said with a wink and grabbed some supplies from the back of the car. It seemed like he had both a grocery and a department store back there… "Let's go," he said excitedly before disappearing into the night.


	5. Chapter 5

"You're lucky. This asshole just happens to be one of my friends from when I was little," Zayn says, sticking his tongue out a bit as he picks the lock to the back door of Paul's place. "Of course, we're not friends anymore –I don't _have_ any friends anymore, well, except for Harry, maybe- but I still happen to know shit about him, so it's fine." The door popped open and Zayn puffed out a little gasp in excitement. He looked over to Niall, eyes gleaming. "Ready for this? Your boy is a heavy sleeper."

Niall squirmed a bit as Zayn crept into the Higgins' household. He seemed to know where he was going, so Niall just followed after, exceedingly uncomfortable. He wasn't really a revenge-seeking person. His mom called him an angel, mostly because whenever his brother Greg would kick him he'd just sit there and take it instead of kicking back. Zayn didn't seem to have such qualms about getting back. Niall figured that Zayn was definitely a kicker growing up…

He crawled after the taller boy up the stairs of the house and Zayn whirled around and brought a finger to his lips, hushing him as if he wasn't already quiet, and slowly opening the door to one of bedrooms.

Niall peered in and could just make out Paul's giant, hulking form lying in the bed on the far wall. It suddenly dawned on him that, if he woke up, Niall would probably be dead. Like… flat out dead. Paul would throw him through the glass of his bedroom window, and his head would hit the concrete sidewalk below, and _he would be dead_. Niall took a shuddering breath.

Zayn seemed excited.

He whipped out something from the waistband of his jeans, but Niall couldn't make out what it was in the dark. A tube of something. Zayn creeps into the room but motions for Niall to stay still, so he does. He tries not to breathe too loudly as Zayn slowly squeezes whatever is in the tube over one of Paul's eyebrows, pulls out his camera, and snaps a pic. He then tiptoes back out of the room and takes Niall downstairs, sitting him down in the living room.

"Um… shouldn't we be leaving?" Niall whispers as Zayn sprawls out on the couch.

"No, we've gotta wait fifteen minutes to remove the cream," Zayn replies, voice far too loud for Niall's taste. He frowns.

"What is it?" he questions, and Zayn smirks.

"Nair hair remover," he replies, and Niall lets that sink in for a minute, and all of a sudden, it's impossible to keep back his giggles. He tries to hold them back, resulting in this odd _honking_ sound, and Zayn looks stressed. His eyes go wide, and he tries to cover Niall's mouth for him, but soon, he's laughing too, and they're both doubled over in silent laugher, unable to look at each other without giggling more.

It's all too soon that Zayn's cellphone beeps a small little alarm, and they crawl back up the stairs, breathing loud and difficult from laughing. This time, both Niall and Zayn sneak into Paul's room, and Zayn let's Niall do the honors of sponging of the hair removal cream while Paul snores. He blushes as Zayn takes his picture, and takes Paul's picture, and takes his no-longer-existent eyebrow's picture, and stuffs the eyebrow-hair-covered sponge into his back pocket before Zayn leads him out of the room.

As soon as they're out of the house, they're laughing again. The only difference is that now they can be _loud_ , and Niall's chittering giggle mixes in well with Zayn's louder laughs. They climb back into the car, and Zayn pulls out the pictures he'd taken, and Niall can't _breathe_ , they're so funny. Zayn's wiping away happy tears, and Niall's not far behind cause, _God_ , does Paul's bald eyebrow look _hilarious_.

Zayn is the first to calm down. He wipes away another stray tear with his palm and looks out the windshield wistfully. "This almost makes me regret it…" he says aloud, though Niall doesn't think he means to.

"Regret what?" he asks, and Zayn looks at him, bewildered and confused before a guarded look crosses over his features.

"The thirteenth thing we're going to do tonight," he answers, and Niall frowns.

"And what _is_ the thirteenth thing?" he questions, and Zayn seems startled for a second, but then the moment is over, and Zayn's back to that secretive, mysterious boy Niall has so fallen for and just wants to _crack_ , and Zayn smirks.

"Secrets, Niall. It's a secret."

Niall pondered this for a second, and looked over to Zayn, nervousness sweeping over him. All of a sudden, his heart dropped –though he wasn't sure why- and the air seemed to rush out of the car. He gripped Zayn's hand over the center console, forcing the other boy look at him. "Zayn?" His voice cracked, caught up in the raw emotion of it all.

"What?"

Zayn's voice cracked, too.

Niall sucked in a deep breath and words poured off his tongue, Irish accent evident and for one of the first times in a long while, he didn't feel ashamed. "I just… I'm really glad that you took me with you tonight, Zayn. I… I can't even tell you… I'm just really grateful." Zayn's cheeks flushed pink, the blush almost hidden by his dark skin, but not quite.

"You won't be saying that later…" he mumbled, and Niall held his hand tighter.

"No, really. I mean… I obviously don't have any friends, Zayn, even _you_ must know that, and… I don't know, I'm dumb, and weird, and Irish, and… It just really means a lot that you would still pick me, and… don't leave me alone, Zayn. I don't want to be alone again." Zayn inhaled deeply, closing his eyes before turning the keys in the ignition and pulling off.

Niall feels like things have gotten too intimate, too fast, and that it's all his fault. It's not okay because he really wants to spend all of his time with Zayn, and the way he's not answering makes him think that he never will. He falls silent in the passenger seat, and the road seems to travel by forever.

Zayn surprises him.

"I would never leave you alone, Niall. No matter what you think."


	6. Chapter 6

"So… here's the next stop…" Zayn breaks the silence, and Niall is admittedly a bit startled. He'd be spacing out pretty badly. Zayn would always be with him. Zayn would _never leave him_. No matter what he thought? What the hell did that even _mean_? Niall couldn't seem to be able to make heads or tails of it, but it was time to stop thinking about it, considering they were pulled up out in front of a very quaint looking home.

"Whose life are we ruining now?" Niall asks with a small laugh to show he's not mad at Zayn for what he's doing. The other boy was currently busy twisting in his seat and rummaging in the back of his car for something.

"Louis's," he grunts, how he's contorting his body making it hard for him to speak, and Niall can't help but notice how the hem of his shirt is slightly lifted and how smooth and soft the skin beneath looks. Zayn is perfect. He is perfect. All too soon, however, his partner in crime is facing forward and the moment is gone. "We're going to Vaseline all of the doorknobs in his place," Zayn says, tossing him a jar of petroleum jelly. "I'll do upstairs; you do downstairs. Make sure to cover both sides."

Niall smirks, and then a thought strikes him. "Wait, do you have anymore of that Nair stuff?" he asks, and Zayn looks bewildered.

"Well… yeah… But… Vaseline. It's such a good prank, and-"

"I think the boy who doesn't know your last name and lets your best friend cheat on his girlfriend with _your_ girlfriend deserves a little more than Vaseline on his doorknobs," Niall says, and Zayn looks surprised for a moment before an almost grateful smile takes over his face. Niall can't help but grin back. "Besides. Louis is so totally vain, this will kill him." Zayn laughs.

"Yeah… He does care a lot about his appearance. Not as much as me of course, but still," Zayn snorts, and Niall is completely confused.

"Wait. You care about how you look?" he asks, and it takes Zayn's hurt face to realize how that could have sounded like an insult. Niall quickly backtracks. "No, wait, not like that, I just mean, like… You seem so… cool. All the time. Like you don't even try or anything, you're just naturally… naturally…" Niall is stuck, and his last word comes out as nothing more than a whisper. "Beautiful."

Zayn grips the steering wheel tight. "Yeah, well… it takes a lot of work for me to look any good at all," Zayn says, and he pauses. The car is off and the night is starting to grow cold around them. Niall can't tell if Zayn's cheeks are pink from embarrassment for from the chill beginning to creep into the car. It's about a second before Zayn speaks again. "I'm not naturally stunning like you, Niall."

Zayn has definitely amounted to all of Niall's expectations and _then_ some. But he's not okay with all of what Zayn has just said. Niall steels himself and reaches out to put a hand on the other boy's cheek, making Zayn look at him. "Zayn… no one could be as perfect as you," he says softly in the suddenly way-too-quiet car, and Zayn pulls away, collecting his things and opening the car door.

"We should… We should get started. Thirteen things to do and all that, and we're only on number six…" he says awkwardly, sticking one leg out of the car and turning to go with his head still facing Niall, who is inwardly kicking himself and beating his head against the wall.

"Yeah. We should go," he agrees, when really, all Niall wants to do is pull Zayn into a hug until he realizes how gorgeous he actually is.

Niall gets out of the car anyway, following Zayn up the front steps of the building. He isn't too surprised when Zayn lets himself in with a key, and instead focuses on keeping his footsteps quiet. There are not too many doors on the bottom floor -just one for the coat closet, one for an office, and one for a bathroom- so he joins Zayn upstairs fairly quickly.

Zayn nods to the remaining door handles, and Niall sets to work Vaseline-ing the knobs to a trillion girls bedrooms and their closets. He feels a bit creepy, but from his current position, he can see Zayn smearing Nair on Louis's left eyebrow, so maybe he's a bit better than some.

Zayn catches his eye and throws him a smirk, making butterflies rise up in Niall's chest. He makes a tiny choking sound in response, and wonders if this whole crush thing is getting out of hand.

By the time he and Zayn finish coating all of the door handles and –as a last minute decision- toilet seats with Vaseline, it's time to remove the hair on Louis's eyebrow. Niall lets Zayn do it, instead double checking that all of the doors are closed so none of the house occupants can get anywhere the following morning. Niall wonders how they'll even get out of their bedrooms. He waits for a couple of Polaroid shots to be taken of Louis's face and the upstairs hallway.

Eventually, Zayn takes him back out to the car, and Niall can't help but notice that neither of them is laughing. In fact, there's a rather serious vibe passing between them, and Niall doesn't like it.

"There's going to be a lot of shrieking girls tomorrow morning," Niall comments, and Zayn nods once, his brain obviously preoccupied with something heavy. Niall needs to _know_. "What's got you all worked up?" he asks, and Zayn sighs.

"I'll tell you later," he answers. "First, we've got something to check out."

Niall doesn't ask what that means because it's obvious at this point that Zayn doesn't like to share his plans until it's just the right time or too late to stop him. He lets the other boy drive him around in their car until he pulls up in front of The Eye. As in, the _London_ Eye.

Niall is suddenly nervous because whatever Zayn has in mind seems important. However, he's also ridiculously excited. Niall's always wanted to go for a ride on the gigantic thing, but he never had the chance, what with it kind of being expensive for a family that had just moved from the ever-so-cheap town of _Mullingar, Ireland_ , to the high-priced city of London. Zayn took his hand and lead him over to the monster-sized amusement park ride, and Niall's unsure of what's going on because it's, like, already midnight, and the last time he checked, the London Eye shut down at eight thirty.

Zayn looks confident, though, and he leaves Niall outside of the gate to hop over and talk to a security guard on the inside. The man gives the other boy a hug and nods his head at something Zayn says, and then unlocks the gate for Niall. "Josh, here, is going to let us go for a spin," Zayn says, and Niall's ecstatic.

"Oh! Thank you so much!" he admittedly gushes a little bit to the skinny security guard who merely waves him off.

"No big deal. I owe Zayn, like, a _million_ favors. Hop on in a car," Josh says, and Zayn grips Niall's hand tightly in his before helping him into the attraction. Josh shuts the door for them and starts the thing turning. Zayn doesn't let go of his hand.

"It's beautiful…" Niall murmurs, looking out over the streets of London. Zayn's fingers squeeze Niall's a bit tighter.

"Yeah… it's amazing… it kind of makes you forget how terrible all the people that live here are…" Zayn says, and Niall frowns. He looks away from the incredible view and into Zayn's eyes as the wheel continues to turn.

"What makes you say that?" he asks, and Zayn bristles a bit.

"Because it's true. I honestly can't name a single person down there who gives a shit. All anyone down in that whole city –that whole _world_ \- cares about is themselves," Zayn is starting to get a little worked up, "and, like, it's so _stupid_. Because they go around acting like they want to know you or they like you, but they don't. They just like what you can _give them_ , and that's _stupid_. They make friends to up their social ranking, or feel cooler by comparison, or have someone to laugh at… No one down there _cares_ ," he rants bitterly, and Niall doesn't know where he finds the bravery, but he wraps Zayn up in a hug.

"I care."

Zayn breathes into his hair, and slowly –almost uncertainly, but this is Zayn, and Niall knows he'd never be uncertain about anything- puts his arms around Niall and accepts his embrace. "I said everyone down there," he says. "You're up here with me."

Niall lets himself fall into Zayn and the smell of his cologne and the sound of his voice for a second. Something about this just feels _right_. And it's a little crazy because up until now, Zayn and his whole persona had only been a fantasy of Niall's, but now everything was _real_. So real. Zayn couldn't have been anything more, and he's _breathtaking_ , and Niall isn't sure he ever wants to let go.

"Is this the seventh thing?" he asks, and Zayn nods before burying his nose in Niall's hair, and goosebumps trail up and down both of their arms.

"I thought we could survey our handiwork," Zayn replies. "So far, we've really given 'em hell." Niall laughs, and pulls away from Zayn a bit, though he never leaves his arms, and looks up into the taller boy's eyes. He sees a lot in them, some things he likes and others he doesn't.

Their faces are close.

Too close.

Too close to be together without doing anything about it.

Niall lets himself lean in a little bit, turning his head. He wants a kiss, and he's actually pretty sure he's going to get it, what with the way Zayn is moving closer rather than away. Niall parts his lips the slightest bit, and Zayn repeats until, suddenly, he's gone.

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry, Niall. That's later on the list," Zayn curses, and Niall's a bit lost because mentally he was officially kissing Zayn Malik still, he'd been so prepared, and it's a weird thought to think that it had never actually happened, especially when he had been so close and he'd dreamed of it so long.

"Later on the list?" he mumbles back, confused, and Zayn nods frantically, looking for all the more a scared little boy.

"Yes, later, we can do that later," he says, and they're reaching the bottom of the Eye at this point. Niall nods his head numbly, kicking himself inwardly even harder than before.

"Okay, yeah, later," he says agreeably, and Zayn gives him a grateful smile before jumping out of the car as soon as the ride stops. Niall follows him to the car and wonders just how long _later_ will be.


	7. Chapter 7

Zayn's hands fumble to get the key into the ignition, fingers shaking and he turns to look at Niall, eyes wide with what could only be described as panic. "Look, I'm really sorry about… that, there. I just… It's later on the list, okay? I want to, but that's not how it's supposed to go, and… and it has to go by the list, okay? It's got to."

"Okay," Niall answers, despite feeling a little hurt. He doesn't understand why he and Zayn haven't driven off into the sunset together yet. He doesn't get why _the list_ is so important. Zayn still looks vexed.

"Really? Because that wasn't very fair of me, and I like you, Niall, I really do, I always have, you're… you're _you_ and you're _incredible_ , and I want to kiss you so, _so badly_ , but I can't. Not right now. This is number eight. You're twelve, and… and you've got to be the last thing before thirteen okay? My first kiss with you has _got to be_ the last thing I do before thirteen," he explains, and Niall's chest constricts a bit, but he's not sure why.

"What's number thirteen, Zayn?" he asks, noticing the way the other boy visibly gulps. Zayn's eyes flicker back to the road, and Niall grabs his hand to keep his head in the car with him because it's obvious he would rather let his mind wander. "Zayn, what's number thirteen?"

If Zayn hadn't been shaking before, then he was _definitely_ shaking now.

"Let's just get through number eight."

* * *

They pull up to an unfamiliar house, and it takes Niall all of two seconds to figure out who's house they're at. "I thought we already got Liam," Niall said, eyeing the giant "Payne" spelled out above the front door. Zayn shrugged.

"I hate him," he says, voice void of emotion. "Plus, his house is empty right now, which means we can do some seriously easy pranking," Zayn continued, and Niall arched any eyebrow.

"How do you know that no one's home?" he asked, and Zayn smiled.

"There's no car in the driveway, and last time I checked, the Payne family had a naked son to pick up from the police station," he replied, and Niall had to hand it to him. The boy was good at revenge. He watched as Zayn leaned into the back of his car again and straightened up with two cans of rubber cement. Niall must have looked curious because Zayn filled him in on the plan immediately. "We're gonna glue everything he needs down," Zayn said before climbing up out of the car and quickly running around it to open Niall's door for him.

"Thanks," Niall said, blushing furiously as Zayn offers his hand out for him to grab as he gets up out of his seat. Zayn doesn't let go once he's standing and instead laces their fingers together as they walk up into the house.

"Let's start upstairs," Zayn says, and Niall nods. "We should get everything in his bathroom and bedroom first, and then we can go glue his remotes to the table and stuff."

"And we should do the kitchen things, too. Cause… Food is important…" Niall suggested awkwardly. It felt weird to be chatting while breaking into someone's house; however, the proud, excited look on Zayn's face made it worth it.

"Great plan!" he exclaimed, finding the way to Liam's bathroom easily, obviously having been in the house a couple times before. He unscrewed a can of rubber cement. "I'm gonna start with the links on his shower curtain. Why don't you get the medicine cabinet and the stuff on the counter, okay?" Zayn asked, already lowering the toilet seat and climbing atop to reach the curtain rod. Niall nodded, and opened the medicine cabinet, laughing when his eyes fell on its contents. Zayn looked over. "What's funny?"

Niall tried to catch his breath and reached into the cabinet, pulling out what had him giggling to hard to speak. "Wh-why do you think he has _this_?" Niall laughed, as Zayn swiped the object away and read the label. Soon, they were both laughing.

"F-False eyelashes?" Zayn wheezed between snickers, and Niall couldn't help but laugh louder.

"He-He prob-probably wants long, beautiful, inky black ones like yours, Zayn!" he giggled, and suddenly Zayn had composed himself, now standing in front of him with Niall's hand in both of his.

"I like you're eyelashes, too," Zayn said, squeezing his hand a bit and Niall blushed.

"Go glue your shower curtain," he brushed him off, turning back to the medicine cabinet. They worked in silence, Niall plastering down everything from toothbrushes to nail clippers while Zayn managed to glue every shampoo bottle Liam owned.

"Downstairs?" Zayn asked when they had both finished, and Niall nodded.

"Downstairs."

Niall takes the kitchen and Zayn takes the family room, both of them cementing everything that seemed useful –Niall was particularly proud of painting down the tea kettle- and were _just_ about to head out when the jingle of keys on the opposite side of the front door was heard. " _Shit_ ," Zayn whispered, snagging Niall's wrist and dragging him back to the kitchen, shutting the pair them both into the pantry.

"What were you _thinking_ , Liam? Streaking? Seriously?" an angry voice said as the front door opened, and Niall thought his heart was about to beat out of his chest. He was crammed up against Zayn, and normally being in such a small space would have him hyperventilating, but the feel of Zayn's pulse rushing just as quickly as his against him was enough to keep him calm. A groan echoed out through the house.

"Mom, I _told you_. I wasn't _planning on it_ ," Liam complained, and Niall couldn't help a small breathy giggle. Zayn shushed him, but Niall could just make out a smile on his face in the dim light of the pantry. A feminine sight reigned out through the house

"Go to up to bed," the angry voice –presumably Mrs. Payne- replied, and the sound of two sets of feet stomping upstairs had Niall gasping for the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"This wasn't on the list," Zayn whispered, and Niall couldn't help but laugh again. "Let's get out of here."

They snuck out of the house hand in hand because Zayn couldn't seem to let him go, and popped back into the car. "That was _insane_ ," Niall laughed. "They had been _right there._ What if we had opened the door first?" he question, and Zayn sucked in a harsh breath of air.

"God, that could have been _so bad_. What if they had wanted a snack or something?" Zayn questioned back, and Niall doubled over, giggling too hard to sit up straight. It took them both a minute to calm down, but before long, Zayn was pulling away from the curb, presumably headed to the ninth thing they were doing that evening. The other boy let out a contented sigh. "I'm really glad you came with me, Nialler," he said, eyes trained out the windshield, and Niall smiled.

"No problem. I'm just happy you picked me," he said, and Zayn nodded before a rather distressed look swept over his face.

"Niall… Niall, it's always been you, okay? You're… Whatever happens tonight… none of it is your fault, okay? This is all on me, all right? And I didn't… I didn't know you'd be this… I don't know; you're gonna hate me…" Zayn said, and Niall rested his hand on Zayn's knee.

"I'll never hate you, Zayn," he told him honestly, and the mysterious by scratched at the back of his neck, looking more sheepish than Niall would like.

"Right… Okay, well, nine is sort of easy. Just keep your eyes out for a post box, I've got some letters to send."


	8. Chapter 8

They find a one of the tall, red pillars quickly, and Zayn has a stack of letters as deep as his hand. Niall's stomach turns. He doesn't like how cryptic Zayn's being, and he doesn't like all this mail that for some reason needs to be sent out at two thirty in the morning.

In all of Niall's experience, letters have been what you used when you can't hold a conversation in person.

Niall doesn't want to think about what Zayn can't talk about face to face.

As soon as Zayn gets back in the car from dropping off his mail, Niall's hand latches onto the other boy's. He might be dumb and _terrible_ at school, but Niall can tell that there's something off here, and he doesn't want to let Zayn slip between his fingers. Not when they're finally _so close_. Something desperate pulls at Niall's heartstrings and there are a thousand things he wants to say, but the wrong words come out as usual. "What's number ten?" Niall asked, voice clogged with worry, and Zayn smirks at him. He's either oblivious to his fear or ignoring it for the time being.

"Ah, that's kind of a tricky question," Zayn replies, pulling out of his parking space and resuming their trip through the London streets again. He's not looking at Niall, and that's probably for the best considering Niall is certainly looking at _him_. "Ten and eleven are part of the same thing… I mean, it has two parts. The first part is getting in, and the second part is actually doing what we came to do, so I can't answer your question just yet," Zayn tells him. "No spoilers. They ruin everything." Niall sighs.

"I'll just wait to see what you have in store," Niall replied, and with that he flicked on the radio, only to find a CD in the player. An incredibly familiar female lilt floods through the speakers, and Niall's worries are instantly washed away as he recognizes the artist. He's practically crying, he's laughing so hard. "T-Tay-Taylor _Swift?!_ Really, Zayn?" he asks, giggling ridiculously hard, and somewhere in the back of his brain, it occurs to him that he hasn't gotten to laugh this much in awhile.

"Oi! There's a _reason_ she sells so many albums, Niall! It's because she's _brilliant!"_ Zayn says defensively, but Niall can tell he's not really mad.

"Yeah, because every _preteen girl_ loves her, Zayn. And you call yourself a _man_ ," Niall teases, snorting unattractively, and –really- he's just kidding. Completely kidding because Zayn is the manliest of all manly, testosterone-filled men in the great, big, manly world. At least, to Niall he is. Zayn detangles his fingers from Niall's to give him a little shove and leave his hand on his shoulder.

"You're so wrong. 'I'd Lie' is like… the best song ever, okay? And I don't even care if it's an old one, it's _awesome_. Taylor Swift is _awesome_ ," he replied, and Niall put his hands up in surrender, shoulder burning where Zayn was touching him.

"Okay, okay. Fine. She's at least a little bit good… Don't tell anyone, but I definitely cry every time I hear 'Teardrops On My Guitar'," Niall admitted, and Zayn crooned in the driver's seat.

"Awww! Nialler! Is someone suffering from unrequited love?" Zayn asked, voice high-pitched and mocking, but there's something else laced between the lines, and Niall thinks he might like it just a little bit. He thinks it might be jealousy. Niall clutches onto Zayn's leg just as the other boy pulls into a new parking spot.

"Yeah, with you," he admits, and Zayn runs into the curb, Niall snatches away his attention so thoroughly. Niall's more than a bit satisfied by the sharp intake of air Zayn breathes in, and then suddenly his kidnapper's hands are on either side of his face. "Zayn?"

The other boy's head is lowered, but he's still cradling Niall's in his hands ever so gently, and why does Zayn seem so bipolar right now? He looks so _defeated_ and his breathing was slow, but he had been laughing five seconds ago. Niall can't see his face, can't see his expression, and it's making him nervous all over again. "N-Niall…"

"Zayn, let's do number ten, okay? Thirteen things to do. Let's do number ten," he begs, and Zayn shudders before pulling away and practically throwing himself from the car. Niall's a bit alarmed as the car doors open and slam closed, Zayn grabbing some supplies from the back. Niall gets out of the car. "Zayn?"

"Number ten," is all the other boy says back, and Niall quickly follows as Zayn stalks off down a very well known street.

He scurries after Zayn as the entirety of the Palace of Westminister passes by.

"You can see the Eye from here," Niall calls out, scrambling something to say, to make up for what just happened, but Zayn doesn't pay him any attention, a basket hung over his back. He knocks on a door at the far corner of the building and it immediately opens a crack.

"Who's there?" a voice questions from the other side of the door, and Niall can just make out an eye peeking through the crack. Before Zayn can answer, the door is thrown open and a rather sleazy looking security guard flashes him a smile. "Zayn! We're all set up!" he announces, and Niall has to admit, this guy makes him feel uncomfortable. His eyes are a bit far apart, and he has this kind of… neurotic air about him.

"Good, um… Niall, after you," Zayn says, beckoning him over and shepherding him into the building. The security guard elbows Zayn in the ribs with a smirk and a pair of waggling eyebrows. Niall, meanwhile, lets himself be led into the building and tries not to break anything. The word "gilded" flits into his mind, but Niall can't remember what it means.

Zayn chats with the guard ahead of him, and Niall deduces that his name is Aiden and he and Zayn apparently have known each other for quite awhile. Aiden also has two daughters, whom Zayn asks about, and a rather nervous dog that pees on the floor whenever Aiden leaves for the night.

Niall's on the third flight of stairs with what looks like a million to go when he realizes where he might be headed.

"Wait," Niall interrupts, and Zayn and Aiden turn to look at him. "I thought you already did this with Louis?" Niall questioned because if this is what he thought it was, then wasn't it a repeat? Zayn ran a hand over his sufficiently messy hair.

"Yeah… but this is a favorite, and, um, things are gonna be a little… a little different than with him," Zayn says, confirming Niall's thoughts to be correct and shifting uncomfortably before Aiden starts taking them up the stairs again.

Niall is breathing harshly. It's a long way to the top, and the trip is starting to seem endless.

He just wanted to be up in Big Ben with Zayn, okay?

Eventually, they make it all the way to the near top of the clock tower, and Zayn reaches out for his hand, giving it a squeeze. "I have… a surprise for you, okay?" he asks, and Niall nods, too out of breath to respond. "Okay… well…" Zayn pants, "For the record… the candles aren't real... Because I can't burn this place down. But that doesn't change the meaning or anything, and I just…"

"Show me, Zayn," Niall requested, and Zayn nods, taking him up into the very top.


	9. Chapter 9

Niall's admittedly confused when he sees the blanket laid out on the ground. There's flowers and candles, and he's not quite sure he likes where Zayn's head is at with this. He whirls around to face him. "I'm not having sex with you on the floor of a clock tower," he tells him, and the look on Zayn's face is priceless. The other boy's eyes widen to the size of saucers and he violently shakes his head.

"No, no! That's not what this is, wait, look…" Zayn yelps, quickly moving around Niall and walking over to the blanket. He puts the basket he's been carrying down and gestures to it. "See? See?! It's a picnic, I thought we could have a picnic… It's not too romantic is it? I just kinda pictured us falling in love or something, maybe I got a bit ahead of myself, I just think you're gorgeous, and perfect, and nice, and so underrated, like… everyone should love you more, and I don't know… like… like, number eleven, okay?" Zayn looks like someone's been shot, he's so stressed and panicky, and he's nearly messing up his hair, running his hands through the sides in an attempt to keep his quiff in order.

Niall lets out a short laugh, trying to take everything in, and he scratches at the back of his neck. Even his knees feel shaky, and he doesn't think he'll stay standing for much longer. He closes his eyes and tries to take a reasonably deep breath. "That's… That's…"

"I'm so sorry, maybe this was a stupid idea, but it would really mean a lot to me if you would at least just sit down, and we don't… we can skip number twelve, or I guess… I guess if you want I can just skip to thirteen and it would be okay, I suppose, like… like… I don't know, I don't want-"

"Zayn!" Niall chirped, interrupting and walking deeper into the room. He took up both of Zayn's hands in his, and he's not really sure how it happened, but somehow both of their faces end up extremely close together, and Niall can near feel the smile creeping up Zayn's lips as his own face breaks into a grin as well. "I think this is perfect. In fact, I think this is more than perfect, and this should most definitely happen, and _food_ is probably my favorite thing in the world, and there's like… there's nothing bad about this. Also, when it comes to the falling in love thing, that most definitely didn't happen tonight. That happened when I first saw you so don't worry. You can make this as romantic as possible, and I won't mind at all."

Zayn decompresses, taking a deep breath to relax, and they're standing so close that their chests bump together as he inhales. "Good. That's really… good. I mean… it's really, really…" Zayn trails off and Niall can't hold back a giggle.

"Good?" he tries to fill in, and it's Zayn's turn to laugh.

"Yeah, good, that's so good," he says, and there's this painfully short moment when all Zayn does is look in his eyes and just hold his hand, thumbs lightly rubbing his own, and Niall feels so completely fulfilled. It's like all of a sudden he wasn't alone anymore, and Niall had been constantly alone lately, so this… this meant a lot to him. He beamed, and Zayn cleared his throat. "Okay, well… well, I've got… I've got some hot chocolate cause… cause everybody likes hot chocolate, so I, mean, I hope you're cool with that. And I brought up some macaroni and cheese. My mom… I had my mom make it, and she never… she never makes anything, so like… that's pretty cool, and um… I don't know. There's some biscuits in there… I just brought what I thought would be okay for like… midnight snack food," Zayn explained awkwardly. Niall couldn't help but lean forward and kiss his cheek.

"I always knew you were perfect," he said, and Zayn smiled before lowering down onto his knees –shit, did he look perfectly practiced at that- and opening up the picnic basket he had worked so hard to lug up the stairs. He pulls out two thermoses and some mugs, and two plastic tubs of homemade macaroni. He's also got a sandwich baggie of chocolate chip cookies, and some forks. "Okay… you're actually _way_ perfect."

"No, _you're_ way perfect," Zayn counters. "Although, I'm still curious about you. You transferred from Mullingar, right?" he asked, and Niall quirked an eyebrow.

"How'ya figure that?" he asked, and Zayn turned a brilliant shade of red, looking down quickly and pouring and passing Niall a cup of hot chocolate to busy himself.

"I may have snuck in the principal's office and read your file," he mumbled, not meeting Niall's eye, and it was… it was _adorable_ how embarrassed he was. Niall's heart was rising into his throat and beating a hundred times per minute. He snickered, trying to ignore the adoration making his chest tighten.

"Is there nothing you're incapable of, Zayn Malik?" he asked, and Zayn flushed brightly again.

"Apparently not," he scoffed and then rolled his lips together. "Although… even though I may or may not know your height and weight now," another blush, " I don't know anything about like… you. Not all the stuff I wanna know, anyway. You should like… you should tell me some things," he said, and Niall furrowed his brow, once again trying to push aside all the lovey-dovey feelings rising up inside of him.

"What kind of things?" he asked, and Zayn let out a puff of air, mirroring Niall and grabbing a tub of macaroni, taking a bite the same time as he did. Zayn hummed.

"Mmmm… I don't know. What's your favorite color? Or, no, wait, better yet, what's your favorite animal print? Are you a cheetah or zebra kind of guy? Actually, no, when did you start dying your hair? Or… stop, how many teeth have you gotten pulled? Or have you ever gone skinny-dipping? Do you have all ten of your toes? What's your favorite desert? Do you know how to spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? I don't know, stuff like that…" Zayn questioned, and Niall nearly choked on his macaroni, trying not to laugh. He took another bite and swallowed it down with some hot chocolate before answering.

"Um, my favorite color right now is orange, I actually like giraffe best of all the prints. I started dying my hair when I was ten. I've never had a tooth pulled, and I've only been skinny-dipping once, but I was alone when I did it, so I'm not sure if that counts. I happen to indeed have all ten toes, I can't just _pick_ a favorite desert, Jesus Christ, and I don't know… S-U-P-E-R-C-A-L-I-F-A-G-I-L-I-S-T-I-C-E-P-A-L-A-D- O-C-I-O-U-S?" he answered and questioned, and Zayn shook his head.

"I couldn't tell you if that was right or wrong, I have no idea how to spell it," he said, and then smiled. "The more I find out about you, the cuter you are," he said, finishing up the rest of his macaroni, and stretching for a cookie. Now it was Niall's turn to blush. Shit. He could stay up in this tower with Zayn forever. He took a big swig of his hot chocolate, finishing it up and scraping the last few noodles out of his container.

"Clearly, I am a more successful speller than you," Niall teased. "And what about you? Let's hear some things about you."

"I'm not that interesting," Zayn replied around a big bite of chocolate chip-y deliciousness (after trying one of the biscuits, Niall wasn't quite sure why he had ever eaten anything else).

"Um, that's a lie. You apparently do crap like this nightly. Why? Tell me some stories," he begged, and Zayn shook his head.

"Nah, most of that stuff isn't really fun. This is the first time I've actually had a good time on one of these excursions. Most of the time I just take people who, like… I think will be a good time, but they never are. And they're normally too chicken to do half the things I want to, but whatever. It got me a spot at the popular table, I guess, and that was always the point."

"Why would you wanna sit there?" Niall asked. He hadn't thought Zayn to be that type of guy. He also hadn't thought Zayn to be the kind of guy to care about his appearance, but apparently he was. It's not like these were deal breakers for Niall, he was just confused and curious. Zayn looked at him like he was crazy.

"Doesn't everyone?" he asked, and then seemed to really think about it. "I actually don't really know… Like… I guess… I didn't have a lot of friends, and then I thought that maybe I should start inviting people out to do some of the things that I always did, you know? And then maybe I would make friends… And I asked Louis cause he was so popular, and he said yes, and I just… I wanted people to like me. I need people to like me…" he trailed off, face contorting to something a bit darker than usual. Niall hates this face. "Except no one does. Like… nothing I ever do really makes that big of a difference. People just want me to take them out and then they want to brag and ignore me… no one cares. Absolutely no one."

"I care," Niall says gently, and this conversation is a bit too familiar for his taste. Zayn sighs.

"You're not a no one," he replies softly, and Niall's suddenly overcome with a million and one feelings that he'd been trying so hard to press down the entire evening. He starts to pant a bit, just because he can't help it, and he shakily reaches forward to rest a hand on Zayn's cheek. The hard expression he had previously been wearing melts away instantly, and he looks at Niall, almost uncertain.

"I really wanna kiss you now," he whispers, and Zayn visibly gulps.

"That's number twelve," he breathes back, and Niall smiles the smallest little bit.

"I think we just finished number eleven."

"Oh."

"So can I kiss you?"

"I don't know, can you?"

"You're annoying. Fine. _May_ I kiss you?"

"I think… I think so…"

"You're stalling."

"So don't let me."

Niall really smiles this time, and he nearly crashes into Zayn, he comes at him so fast. In fact, he sort of does because neither of them are sitting up anymore. Niall's on top of Zayn, having pushed him down flat on the floor in order to attack his lips with everything he had. He tries not to think about how a couple hours ago, he was struggling not to cry while he did his math homework. That was sort of a turn off, and besides, he should be marveling about Zayn's attractiveness right now, not about the way his life turned around.

And then Niall honestly looses track of what's going on. He can feel his face being cradled between Zayn's hands, and he knows that he's got his attached way too firmly around the other boy's hips, but he can't really be bothered to loosen up. Mouth wise, Niall doesn't know what's going on. He just knows he doesn't want it to stop. Seriously, if Zayn tries to stop, Niall's going to throw himself from the tower.

"Okay, okay… Okay, the sun's coming up," Zayn says, letting his head fall back against the floor. He turns out of Niall's reach. "The sun's coming up, I have to… I have to finish… I have to finish the list… number thirteen…"

"Is that sex in a clock tower? Cause I think we could do that now," he says breathlessly, settling on sucking at crook of Zayn's jaw if he can't kiss his lips. Zayn pushes him off, and heads up to the door in the clock face while Niall lies dazed on the carpet.

"I'm sorry, Niall. I'm really, really sorry."


	10. Chapter 10

Niall sobers up really fast at Zayn's apology, sitting up on his elbows and furrowing his brow, confused and concerned. "What do you mean you're 'sorry'?" he asks, wiping his mouth off on his sleeve. He and Zayn had really been going at it. The other boy doesn't look at him as he mounts the stairs and opens the door at the top of the tower. Soft light from a not-yet-risen-sun joins the electric candles surrounding Niall back down on the floor.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't think it would go this well, but I have to finish the list, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Zayn keeps repeating, face turned away. Niall is nervous. The other boy is looking down at the street below, and Niall's worried because shouldn't this door have been locked or something? And why is Zayn apologizing as he looks out it? Why is he staring at the ground way, way below so intently?

"Zayn, why don't you close the door and explain just what number thirteen is, exactly," Niall suggests, and it's surprising because his words come out so strong and firm. Niall's never been good at strong _or_ firm, but drastic times and all that. The other boy doesn't seem to have heard him. "Zayn, close the door and talk to me. Zayn!" he tries, but the other boy seems to be in his own little world. He responds, but not in the way Niall wanted.

"Shit… Niall, the food. Just leave it, okay? Just leave it, and leave, and go home. Someone else will get it. Someone who won't be upset, okay? Don't… don't be too distraught. It's not your fault. You're what kept this at number thirteen instead of number one."

"Zayn, what the hell are you talking about?" Niall asked, heart pounding in his throat, and shit, this is not what he expected number thirteen to be like. He figured Zayn would end the night with a bang, but it was looking like it was going to finish with more of a splat.

"Niall, I'm jumping."

"Like hell you are!"

"No, really. I can't… Niall, I'm scared."

"Then don't fucking do it."

"No, no, I have to, I have to. I'm here now, I have to."

"I'm here now, too, Zayn. You can't just… I'm _here_ ," he says, and he doesn't know why he expects that to be relevant or useful, but it's true, so whatever. Niall's voice is growing wetter and wetter, and he's on his feet now at the bottom of the stairs. Zayn's toes are just grazing the edge of the platform, and it's only going to take his leaning forward to send him over the edge.

The other boy is visibly falling apart. Niall had been watching the build up to this all evening and he hadn't even known… He wished he had known. He wished he had done more. He wished he could be enough to keep Zayn from… from all _this_. Niall was terrified, and obviously so was Zayn if the tears streaming down the other boy's cheeks were anything to go by.

Niall tries to climb the stairs and Zayn _screams_. "Stay where you are! Don't _move!"_ the other boy screeches, putting a hand out like a stop sign, head turned away like he's bracing himself against Niall's coming towards him. His heart breaks, and he freezes regardless of his desire to grab Zayn and rip him from the edge. How the hell did things go from zero to sixty like this so quickly?

"Okay, okay! I'm right here, I'm right here!" Niall replied, hand gripping the railing so tight, the entirety of his fingers turned white, not just the knuckles. "Zayn… Zayn, talk to me. Why are you jumping?" he questioned, hoping that was the right move and his asking wouldn't send the other boy over the edge. Zayn ran his fingers through his inky black hair.

"No one… No one likes me."

"Everybody likes you. You're the most popular person at school."

"No, they don't _like_ me."

"Why would you say that?"

"They don't _care!"_ Zayn yelped, voice cracking in a thousand places despite the sentence only being three words long. Niall flinched scratched aimlessly at his face, his nails sharp on his cheek. "They don't care about _me._ They never _have._ They don't like me for _me,_ they like me because I take them out and make people jealous of them… and they like the attention I bring them, but… but… but th-they d-don't l-like _me,"_ Zayn cried, and Niall realized just how much the other boy had been restraining himself until now as he erupted into tears. "N-no 'ne llllikes me, n-no mmmmatter who I _try_ , 'r wh-what I d-do, no… no one lllllikes m-m-m-m'."

Zayn is clearly doing his very best to speak, and Niall sneaks up one stair of the case while the other frantically wipes at his eyes. "I like you, Zayn," he said honestly. "I love you." Zayn shakes his head frantically.

"Y're just sayin' th-that. You don't… _t'morrow it'll be the same,_ " he says, and it's sad to see how much Zayn believes that. Niall frowns and creeps up another step. There's only seven distancing himself from Zayn and the door. He sucks in a deep breath, and the taller boy mirrors him, inhaling to calm himself down as well. Niall can see him numbing up.

"Zayn, that's not going to happen. I love you for you."

"No you don't. _No one does."_

"Yes I do. And what about your parents?"

"You're lying. That'll change tomorrow. And they're never home. They leave money on the counter and give me the date they'll be back. They don't _care._ No one _cares."_

"I'm not lying, Zayn. I've been in love with you since I moved here. I… I watch you all the fucking time. You… you scratch your right ankle with your left foot so your sock is always rolled down. You wave at everyone you pass by in the halls; your arms tense up perfectly when you throw on your backpack… Zayn, I love you. Zayn _let me love you,"_ Niall pleads, eyes watering over as he creeps up one more step. Six to go. Zayn whirls on him and snaps.

"Shut up, Niall. Just _shut up."_

"Not until you close the door."

"Stop coming closer, stay where you are!"

"I'm not moving."

"I'm going to do it. I'm going to jump."

"Don't do that to me, Zayn."

"This isn't about you, it's about _me."_

"There's not going to be a you for this _to be_ about if you jump. Z. Just close the door. Close the door, and come over here, and let me hold you, okay? I'll just hold you. Let me just hold you," Niall begs, and he can't handle this, and he can't stop crying, and he can't have Zayn so close to the ledge like this. He can't see him go over. He can't be alone again, not when he's finally remembered what it's like to have someone, and maybe that's selfish, but it's really in Zayn's best interest that he doesn't end up on the sidewalk faster than he should.

Zayn glances at him warily; eyes red and a thousand tear tracks staining his cheeks. Niall holds his hands out for him, begging him inwardly to just come and _accept this hug._ He needs him _away from this door_. "Niall, I… I have t-to do this. M'so sorry. You… you were the good part to my day, I just…"

"Zayn, _please_ ," Niall pleads, stretching out a little more and daring to go up another stair. Five to go. He's so close. "Zayn let's talk about this. We can _fix things_. We can _be together._ Don't you see? We can _be together;_ you don't have to be alone! And… And I know it sucks to be alone, I know. I know; that's what I am without you. Don't leave me by myself, Zayn," he says, and it's like the other boy doesn't even here him, he's so focused on the street below. Niall goes up one more step. Four to go. He could just graze the other boy with his fingertips if he stretched forward. "Zayn, you can't… you can't _do this._ We are _so close._ Zayn, I'll jump off this building right after you. _Zayn,"_ he weeps, and the other boy is shaking, but he seems pretty out of it, probably blocking Niall out as much as he can. Niall doesn't blame him. He probably sounds like a lunatic.

One more step. Three to go. Zayn seems to catch onto what's happening again, and a fresh set of tears roll down his cheeks. Shit, does he look beautiful when he cries. This is _painful._ "Just… Just stop, Niall. Stop _coming._ Stop _getting closer,_ " he begs, and Niall takes another step. Two left between them.

"Niall, _stop!"_

"Zayn, you can't-"

"Stop it, stop it _right now! I hate you!_ I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! Leave me _alone!"_

"I don't think I'm ever going to do that again."

One more step.

" _STOP IT!_ L-le-leave m-me be. S-stop it rrrrright _now._ I. H-hate. Y-you. Just-"

Niall lunges, and it's a stupid idea, but he yanks Zayn away from the door and sends them both over the banister of the stair case and onto the picnic blanket Zayn had set up earlier. It's not very cushy. Niall let's out an audible groan as he hits the ground and Zayn lands on top of him. His whole body ached. The staircase had admittedly been short –only twelve steps high- but that hurt like a _bitch_ , though Niall didn't have much time to think about that as the previous events crashed down on him. He rolled over, leaning up on his elbow, and threw up.

He gagged up honestly everything Zayn had brought for him, and when he throws a glance over to the other boy, he's not surprised to see him throwing up his guts, too.

Niall wipes his mouth off on his sleeve, and it pains him to think of how he'd been doing the same thing for such different reasons merely minutes ago. "You're not going back up there," Niall told him, Zayn still getting sick all over the blanket. Somehow, the other managed to shake his head, despite dry heaving.

"I don't wanna. Don't make me go, I don't… W-will you still hold me? Please just hold me," Zayn asked, and it seemed like tumble over the bannister seemed to shake him into his senses. Niall crawled over and pulled Zayn into his lap. He could feel the other boy shudder against him as he tried to avoid throwing up again and cried far harder than any person should.

"I'm not going to make you go up there. You're not _allowed_ to go back up there. It's okay, Zayn, you're okay," he assured him, stroking his hands through the other boy's hair as he trembled in his arms. Zayn was struggling to breath, making keening noises each time he inhaled.

"I th-thought we were going all the way down. I th-thought I jumped, and I… I didn't want to have. Ni… Ni, I don't wanna do thirteen. I don't want to finish the list," he choked, and Niall kissed his temple, holding Zayn so tight, their bodies were flush against each other.

"It's okay. We're okay. You didn't jump. You were brave and strong, and it's okay. We're gonna clean up and go home soon, okay? And we can have a sleepover, and we can have lots of sleepovers, and I'm not going to leave you alone, and things are going to be _so much better,_ I promise, and you're going to always have me, and I'm going to always have you, and you don't have to finish the list. I don't want you to finish the list. You did a great job. You did a _great job_ , and I love you. And you shouldn't worry. I'm gonna take such great care of you, and you can take such great care of me, and I don't care how badly you're hurting, I still want to be yours, and I still want you to be mine, and I _love you,_ " Niall prattles off, and he's talking, and he can't stop himself, and he feels dumb, but, like he said, he can't stop himself.

He just wants Zayn to feel good. And he needs him to feel safe. And that's all he wants. "You weren't supposed to _really_ fall in love with me," Zayn muttered, and Niall kissed the crook of his neck on repeat.

"The things you plan always work out perfectly, love," Niall says, lips never leaving Zayn's skin, and the other boy twists in his lap. Zayn connected their lips together again, and Niall let him, following Zayn's hand as he pushed him down onto the floor. Horizontal snogging. He could roll with this.

Zayn tastes salty, but mostly like sick. Niall doesn't care. He pulls away quickly, leaving Niall wanting more. "Niall, I don't want to kiss you here," he said, breathless despite the brevity of the kiss. Niall understood. This was intimate. Intimate in a place where all the wrong kind of intimacy happened.

"Then lets go to my room, okay?"

"We have to clean all this-"

"Let's _go to my room,_ okay?"

"Niall…"

"Zayn, I think the sooner we're down from this tower, the better."

"What about Aiden? This is job."

"Then he'll be happy to clean up for us."

"Niall-"

"Zayn, let's just go _home,_ " Niall begged, worried sick and tired of it. "You're upset, and you're sad, and you deserve so much more than what you have to deal with, and you _don't_ deserve remedial cleaning right now, okay? Let's go _home."_ Niall begs, and Zayn looks at him very seriously again, just like he'd been doing all evening, but with a different kind of flicker in his eyes.

"…Can we stop for pancakes first at least?" Zayn asks, and Niall beams at him, the other boy's hopeful expression adorable and welcome. So much happier than the hope _less_ one he had been wearing before. Niall laughed.

"There's gotta be someplace open," he replied, standing up and extending a hand to help the other boy to his feet. He looked up at the landing Zayn had been so ready to jump off earlier. He looked at disheveled picnic blanket, and cleared his throat. "And don't feel too bad about your list, man. Number 13. Falling from the tower, right? You definitely managed that," he said, gesturing up to the bannister they'd gone over, and Zayn's face broke out into a wistful smile.

"That would have bugged me forever," he said, voice airy but not-quite-pleased. Niall intertwined their fingers and pecked the other boy on the cheek.

"I'm going to make sure nothing bugs you ever again, okay?" he said, earning a kiss on the lips from Zayn as they headed to the staircase, leaving the clock tower behind and neither alone.


End file.
